INDIAN sports got another great moment to cherish when shooter Abhinav Bindra was bestowed the Olympic Order, the highest award of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The ace shooter who was the first Indian athlete to win an individual gold medal in Olympics was honoured to recognise his outstanding contribution to the development of sport and services to the Olympic cause. Bindra deserves every bit of the honour he has been awarded by the IOC for his extraordinary determination to promote his sport and relentless pursuit for excellence. His gold medal in 2008 Beijing Olympics is still termed as a gamechanger for Indian sports. It paved way for many more athletes dreaming of reaching the highest sporting pinnacle and subsequent Olympics witnessed a surge of Indian sportsmen bringing glory to the country. Bindra’s achievement must be hailed wholeheartedly by the country because he did not stop at the golden glory but brought all his experience and expertise to champion the cause of athletes in the country. As member of the IOC Athlete Commission since 2018, Bindra has been working for the betterment of facilities for sportspersons in India. The good work has rightly been recognised by the Olympic movement.

 

 

THE media report of vandalisation of a Swaminarayan temple in the Canadian city of Edmonton is a matter of serious concern. In the fast some time, some more Hindu temples have faced such a fate in some other places around the world, which calls for an immediate action by India to issue a stern message to the government in Canada that bit would harm its long-term interests with India if it failed to provide appropriate protection to all Hindu places of worship in the country. Enough evidence has emerged to believe that the attack on the temple by a mob was well-planned and obviously intended to cause a sense of hurt to the dignity of not just the Hindu community in Canada but also elsewhere. There is every reason also to suspect that hidden Khalistani elements may have been involved in the attack that left the temple walls having been painted with hateful rhetoric, as the media reports have us believe. This attack could also be linked to the fractious domestic politics in Canada fuelled mostly by Khalistani elements. Prime Minister Mr. Justin Trudeau cannot ignore this incident and should feel duty-bound to find and punish the culprits.